Poor Man's Press? .anybody Else Try A Food Saver?

[BConklin]

I made a concealed carry style holster for a Mod 1935 Beretta yesterday...a quick job of it just to get a feel for it. I used 6-7 oz leather and after wetting it thoroughly I wrapped the gun up in plastic wrap, jammed it into the holster and set the whole thing into a one quart food saver bag and vac-packed it. Worked like a charm! The only drawback was the little parallel ridges in the bag were embossed into the surface of the leather. My solution was to do it again turning the holster in the bag to make a nice cross hatch effect.

After maybe 20 minutes in the bag, I took it out and popped it into the convection oven at 170° ( the lowest setting I can get) for about half an hour. It came out as hard as wood and perfectly formed to the gun.

I input "Food Saver" and "Vacuum Bagger" into the search engine for the site and came up with no returns...but I can't imagine I'm the only one doing this.

[dickf]

No you're not - this has been discussed for a while now. I searched 'food saver' and came up with several results. 'vacuum' will return even more...

[whinewine]

I made a concealed carry style holster for a Mod 1935 Beretta yesterday...a quick job of it just to get a feel for it. I used 6-7 oz leather and after wetting it thoroughly I wrapped the gun up in plastic wrap, jammed it into the holster and set the whole thing into a one quart food saver bag and vac-packed it. Worked like a charm! The only drawback was the little parallel ridges in the bag were embossed into the surface of the leather. My solution was to do it again turning the holster in the bag to make a nice cross hatch effect.

After maybe 20 minutes in the bag, I took it out and popped it into the convection oven at 170° ( the lowest setting I can get) for about half an hour. It came out as hard as wood and perfectly formed to the gun.

I input "Food Saver" and "Vacuum Bagger" into the search engine for the site and came up with no returns...but I can't imagine I'm the only one doing this.

A little while back, there was a thread on this. I tried it, & it works, although I didn't leave it in but just a few minutes. As far as the ridges, just put another piece of FS bag between the ridged side & the holster itself- with the smooth side against the holster- that prevents the bumps from appearing. What I don't like is that the FS seals the bag instead of continuing to draw moisture out. (I would rather have continued suction & less moisture, but doing this on a budget, I guess I can't complain- so I've got to cut the bag, oh well...)

[BConklin]

Like I said - I couldn't imagine I was the only one doing it. That tip about putting another piece of bag in there inside out is a good tip - I was thinking a turn or two of regular plastic wrap around the holster might shield it from the ridges. But on some pieces, the ridges can be a neat effect.

No you're not - this has been discussed for a while now. I searched 'food saver' and came up with several results. 'vacuum' will return even more...

Ah - I see. I was searching from the home page...nothing.

Once on the forum I see there are plenty of hits. Thanks.